Kilt or no? Group input sought...

[GMan]

Somehow something I thought that I had in my last post didn't make the dispatch... I had written something to the effect that my Grandmother, despite her years, is one spunky lady who rakes her own leaves and shovels her snow. I suspect that she will be able to suffer easily a bit if spunk in her grandson.

Mychael

Now I know where you got your spunk Mychael Have a good time.

[Xcop]

I agree with Ugly Bear on one point...SHAVE YOUR HEAD... Its as freeing as wearin a kilt.

David

[David Woodington]

MY family and I were staying at a hotel where my folks had prepaid for rooms for our incoming family.
Two of my aunts were there,my cousin,two of my sisters and their children.They all loved it and it brought some talk of some of our family history,which is mostly Welsh.But I digress,some of the female staff from the hotel seemed to really enjoy my kilt as I caught some glimpses of some approving looks and later had some friendly dialog.So on the way to the wedding I wore my kilt (Hunting Stewart) and brought my nice suit
with me.wearing my kilt I mingled with the guests and chated with the piper.Shortly before the wedding my sister and I saw each other at a distance but we were unable to talk as she was wisked away to the back of the church. I then quickly changed back into my suit as per her wish.Now as to the reason for this long story is that when I saw my sister at the reception she told me if she new how good I would looked in my kilt she would have asked me to wear it. But I don,t regret not wearing it because I love my sister and it was her day,but if she ever renews her vows you all can be assured Prince Charlie, animal head sporran,and maybe a flying plaid will be in order.

Good luck,and were with you either way.

Dave

[macwilkin]

Episcopalscot advised that if I wear a kilt I should dress to the nines. This isn't really a very fancy occasion; a coatee would be too much. But I get the spirit of his recommendation and will dress well. To that end, I have a very nice day-look I tried out this afternoon centered around my new Kinloch Anderson Corporate tartan, lovat green tweed waistcoat, brown day sporran and day belt, and some nice casual yet dressy brown shoes I picked up. It should do quite well. I coordinated the outfit for exactly this sort of occasion.

Good on ya, Mychael -- sounds like a very dapper outfit!

Cheers (b)!

T.

[Graham]

Well, you asked for an opinion and you certainly got it!
Let us know the outcome won't you!

In answer to your question Mychael:

..I am curious to know if your lack of attendance at the wedding had any consequences, immediate or otherwise. Here is the big question: Who came off as the jerk in this situation?

It had consequences, they missed out on the joy of having ME there and I have never felt I was the 'jerk'.

The fellow who refused to prove his devotion to his family by honoring an absolutely inane request, or the fellow who made the inane request? Do you have to have dinner with this fellow on Boxing or Anzac days?

The marriage didn't last very long, my sister realised she had married a jerk, I guess that speaks for itself!

What in the heck is Anzac day, anyway?!

Anzac Day is a public holiday to commemorate Australians and New Zealanders killed in war and to honour returned servicemen and women.
http://www.acn.net.au/articles/anzac/

[Mychael Sporrano]

The party is now behind me and I have to tell you that everything went off without a hitch. I went dressed as mentioned and I think that I really surprised my father and grandmother with how nice I looked. (Surprised me, too.) Makes me wonder just what they were imagining. Grandma saw me in a casual kilt once, so she should have had at least an idea. Oh, and we did take some photographs; I should at last have some pics to post once we get around to developing them and I get the scanner warmed up.

Despite being a bit overdressed for the restaurant as compared to most of the others in our party (as well as to those in the restaurant), I felt fairly inconspicuous in my 'day casual' highland attire. THERE IS DEFINITELY A DIFFERENCE in how one is perceived while wearing traditional versus casual contemporary kilt garb. I will entertain the theory that part of it could be me, as in I might feel more comfortable in terms of my image when I am dressed in a more traditional fashion, and therefore might exude more confidence. However, I think that it has much more to do with folks seeing something more traditional (read: recognizeable) and thinking to themselves, "Ah, a Scotsman / Irishman?", versus them seeing a fellow in hiking boots, T-shirt and camoflaged skirty looking thing who might just be a wierdo. We all like being able to classify to some extent those whom we meet, sorting them into piles based on things such as religion and politics, age, gender, whatever. I think that particularly unenlightened folk tend to toss anyone differing from them, and for whom a proper, acceptable label cannot be found, into that weirdo pile.

After all of this hubbub, it feels anti-climatic to report how well this went. I did take pants and I did offer to change into them. Grandma was concerned that I might be cold, but other than that she said little about my dress until I was getting ready to leave for home. At that time she told me I looked very nice and that she liked my kilt. I think that Jamie was onto something:

Could it be that she is a bit shocked and uncertain about how others will recieve you, and by extension, her? Jamie

This had already crossed my mind, and I suspect it was the reason for her reticence. In fact, after her compliment she added,"No one really said anything, did they?" She meant something negative and, no, the only comments we heard were positive. One relative who decided to join our party thought it neat that we were all dressed in kilts. (My wife wore slacks but wore a tartan waistcoat that matched my kilt.)Grandma asked her if she didn't think that they looked like skirts and the relative said, "No, Aunt Mary, they look like kilts." Also, one member of our party was covered in tattoos, so there was that diversion <g>.

Back at the house I changed into a PK in charcoal and a Harley Davidson T-shirt . We wanted to go hiking. My father, who had been relatively quiet before about things of a kilted nature, pepped up and seemed to really like this look. I think that he liked the traditional look well enough but preferred the casual look because to him it may have looked less girly than wearing plaid. I am not sure because he didn't say and I didn't ask.

So, overall it was a very nice day.

I would like to take this point to state how nice this group is. Things do not seem to get ugly or personal here despite the fact that opinions vary. I am relatively new here, and I have not gone back too far into the archives and therefore could have missed some major tiffs or personality conflicts that have since been mitigated, but from what I can see this is one nice place to hang.

Mychael

[bubba]

Mychael, there have been a couple times things got heated, but Hank stops that stuff fast so it never has time to become a problem. Of course, the name calling doesn't happen regardless of how heated the discussion. This is a fine group that I'm proud to associate with.

[Graham]

Thanks for the update mychael, I'm SO glad it all went well.

Your heart is in the right place, that's the main thing.

[Donnie]

I really glad everything went well! I agree with Grahm, as long as your heart is in the right place, things seem to work out. I have fiund that the worry about something is usually much worse than what actually happens.

[GMan]

Glad things went well for you Mychael, as long as the attitude is positive, things go well, as you found out!